OLD HABITS NEVER DIE
by lustforkreation7
Summary: A fanfiction of the ARG (Alternate reality game), EverymanHYBRID. This story takes place right before the video 'Dead end with a Pulse' & portrays the stuff that you weren't shown. Instead of 'he/him/he's,' I refer to HABIT as 'it/the force/possessor.' Rated M for intense violence and strong language.


It was time now, no longer could it wait. It had been waiting for this moment a while now. Though the force had gone through this many times before, it still took pleasure in tormenting them. Each time, though, it would find more and more ways to make them suffer.

It loved to change things up, the possessor had a wide variety of music it loved to utilize and different methods of torture it was fond of. While it was waiting for this moment to come, the force had come up with a little idea as to how it would capture The Guardian. One that it loved very much so, especially because it allowed it to completely shatter the young adult's final attempt at finding a ''clue.''

HABIT could've chosen any time to do this, but it was time now, Jeffery's will was almost completely broken and the boys currently only had each other. It was practically giddy with anticipation; it moved from its current position and entered the house.

The Firebrand was always the one for HABIT to take over due to the fact that Evan had the certain personality that suited the force's desires and advantages. Sure HABIT could ''possess'' anybody, but this boy was the best for his host traits. He had a strange love for knives, preferably large and sharp ones. Evan also had the outgoing and slightly-off mind that HABIT absolutely loved to apply. Plus he was already quite strong and held a great place as one skilled fighter, who else could throw the fucking ''feral other'' out a window.

**''THE PERFECT SHELL.'' **

Evan had been sitting down at the couch in his basement with none other than Stephanie, his now pregnant and dedicated lover. She was snuggling against his side as ''Shaun of the Dead'' played on the TV in front of them. Steph had been with Evan's baby for about five months now, the bulge in her stomach quite noticeable. Though she was pretty happy having her companion's son within her, contractions and the constant desire to eat could be bothersome at times.

It had been a while since they first hooked up, but ever since Evan saw her blog back in two-thousand ten, he knew that there was some sort of connection between them. The situation wasn't like a sappy love story; it could be better compared to a strong relationship that also involved romantic feelings.

Evan had been in relationships before that involved things such as kissing and the words ''I love you,'' but Steph was something else, she actually felt like something Evan needed in his life. Jessie and he had grown pretty intimate before their break-up, but he was able to get over it real quick, if he had ever separated from Steph...it would devastate him. He preferred not to think of Jessie, because of what had happened to her.

Steph thought about the same of him as he did her, though she was a lot more subtle when it came to her feelings, despite the fact that she was carrying Evan's child. It was more in front of other people she would act this way. Needless to say, they loved each other and were going to fight through their torment together...no matter what.

Ever since Jeff's brother Alex had mysteriously been murdered, or at least presumed to be killed, the couple had become more intimate and emotional. They never knew who was going to go next; it could be anybody, though HABIT knew exactly who was to bite the dust.

''Hey Ev, when do you think this all gonna blow-over?'' Steph asked as she stared ahead at the TV screen. They were on the part where Shaun was walking down the street and several ''zombies'' were limping around.

''To be honest, Steph, I really don't know.'' Evan answered, slightly uncomfortable with talking about their situation. ''But no matter what, I'm gonna protect you two.'' He stated as he stared down into her hopeful eyes. This was one of those heartfelt moments they had been having recently.

Love was a word that both of them didn't use quite often, but could still be felt. Love didn't need to be said for someone to understand it; it was just a feeling that was meant to be shared. They felt love, they knew what love was.

Evan leaned in for a kiss as Steph did the same, their lips moving close to each other. It was moments like this that caused that warm feeling in Evan's chest. Just as they were inches away from connecting, a loud laugh came from upstairs.

Evan immediately snapped his head towards the direction of the noise; this wasn't a good time for ''them'' to do this. He looked over at his lover, who was terrified to say the least. She knew exactly what was going on, ''they'' were here.

Another laugh erupted from the short distance and Evan took this as his signal to get up and go check out the noise. This was how he always reacted to a situation like that, he just ran into it without thinking ahead, all motives being violent.

''Shit, mother fucker.'' He angrily grunted as he climbed up off the couch, reaching for the large knife Steph had given him for Christmas last year. ''I want you to stay here, no matter what, I do-'' Evan said before he was cut-off by the girl on the couch.

''What? No, I am not gonna let you go out there and possibly get killed.'' She said sternly.

''Steph, I'd want it to be me over you, now stay here.''

''No, I'm coming with you.''

''No! I don't want either of you to get hurt!''

Steph was quiet for a few seconds before she stopped her arguing and got up, standing in front of Evan. ''Okay, just be safe.'' with that, she gave him a compassionate kiss, knowing that it could possibly be the last one they ever have.

After finishing the expression, Evan looked back at her and slowly took off upstairs, his knife raised. He eventually disappeared from sight as Steph watched on, wishing for the best. There was only dead silence for several seconds before she decided to go for the phone and call the police.

The police hadn't been much help in the past, but what other assistance could there be. And maybe they'd actually come to the rescue this time. There could always be hope for situations like this, as long as you believed.

Just as she was beginning to turn-around, an indescribable chill crept up upon her neck. The chill proceeded to move around to her chest and stomach and then surround a majority of her body. It felt so malicious, despite the fact that it was only just a slight feeling in the air.

**''YOU'RE BOTH MINE.''** an eerie voice whispered into her ear.

The young girl stood there in frozen fear, afraid of what this thing was going to do. The chill then covered her mouth, at first feeling like a cold piece of fabric over her mouth. The feeling soon turned into something more sinister as the chill began to feel like a rough hand.

Now she was being suffocated by this unseen force, arms flailing and screaming proving futile. About thirty seconds passed before Steph had passed out and fell limp to the floor. The TV in the room suddenly changed to a music channel, a classic rock music channel to be exact.

_(At this point, find some sort of way to play ''You Gotta' Move'' by the Rolling Stones and let it play while you read this.)_

Evan quietly stepped into the kitchen, ready for any attack from anything. The laughter sounded like it came from in there, but he could've been wrong. Despite being in this nerve-wracking situation, the young man couldn't stop thinking about the safety of his child's-bearer downstairs. If anything hurt her, he swore that he'd tear it apart limb-from-limb.

**''OH, YOU HAVE NO IDEA.''**

HABIT was everywhere in the house now, he'd practically own it in a little bit. The force sent that chill through the entire house now, slowly letting its presence become spaciously known. It was just two people, not much effort had to be applied.

Evan felt the cold feeling rise up from behind him, it made the hairs on the back of his neck stand on in.  
His first thoughts were that the mother fucker behind him was in for it. With a swift turn-around and a stab at the air, Evan grunted angrily.

''Take that, you fuckin bi-'' but there was nothing there, no being in a suit, no crazed man, nothing. The knife-wielder looked around perplexed; surely that was the thing behind him (or at least one of them.) Maybe it had moved.

Evan quickly turned-around and held his knife-up, still nothing. Okay, it was fucking with him now. It could've been anywhere; he had to run down to see if Steph was okay, his mind already fueled with thoughts of not leaving her side.

Just as he stepped towards the stairs, the faint sound of music reached his ears. Evan cautiously crept down the stairs, anger and fear gripping him by the sides. As he progressed down stairs, the music got louder and clearer.

''_You gotta move, you gotta move._''

Evan finally made it to the end of the stairs, he felt that relief that he could see that Steph was safe. She was probably lying on the couch, shaking in fright. He ran over to the couch to see no one lying there, but that the TV was on and playing music on an average volume.

''Steph,'' Evan looked around. ''Steph, where are you?'' He began to grow worried; she had to be around there somewhere. ''Steph,'' he said a lot louder this time. ''Steph, where the fuck are you?''  
Something was wrong, something was seriously wrong.

The young man stood there extremely confused and afraid, if she wasn't in there, then where could she be? Evan felt the familiar chill grow colder and the TV's volume change drastically. ''Steph, where are you?!''

**''RIGHT HERE.''**

Evan turned around to see…nothing.

**''NO STUPID, RIGHT HERE.''**

This time the voice seemed to come from above, the knife-wielder shot his head straight-up. A horrified expression on his face showed all of his emotions as he dropped his knife. There on the ceiling lay Stephanie, except it seemed that she was being pushed into it. The fact that she seemed to be un-conscious hit Evan's very core.

He immediately jumped up and tried to grab her dangling arm, but it was no use. Evan looked around the room, the hostile feeling continuing to remain present. This was it, he had to confront it. Evan gripped his knife tightly and stood his ground while watching his love begin to slightly stir.

''Alright mother fucker, let her go, or else I'll fucking rip you to shreds!'' He yelled angrily, unease clear in his voice. He put on a tough face, but it was almost impossible to hide the panic. Even though he was scared, his rage was still persistent.

Uproarious laughter surrounded Evan as the music on the TV began to fizz in and out. The young man gripped his knife tighter and grit his teeth. It was obvious now that there was nothing he could do to stop it.

**''EVAN, ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS MAN, HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!''**

Suddenly, Steph began to fully wake-up and instantly screamed as she saw that she was being gently pushed into the ceiling. It didn't hurt so much as it was just plain terrifying. The room began to shake and the distorted audio on the TV got louder.

''_You gotta move. Aaaaaaaah, aaaaaaaaah, aaaaaaaaah.''_

Evan jumped again to try and grab Steph's hanging hand, but it proved futile. ''Let her go!'' Evan yelled furiously. The continuing laughter in the air seemed to get louder as things on various shelves fell down.

Tears were now streaming down Steph's face and she helplessly watched Evan be flung across the room, his knife falling to the ground and stabbing into it. Evan hit a wall, somewhat damaging it. The cackling began to die down as the room stopped shaking and the TV cut-off.

_(Now you can cut the song off.)_

Steph was still screaming even though a lot of the chaos had ceased. Evan seemed to be unconscious as blood ran down his head and face. Before she knew it, the laughing from before came back and she fell from the ceiling.

A pained scream came from her as she fell onto her stomach, the chortles booming in her ears. As if by instinct, Steph rolled onto her back so that the baby wouldn't be hurt any further. It caused her great aching, but she refused to let her child be hurt.

''E-e-e-evan!'' She choked out while simultaneously screaming and sobbing. The girl held her stomach in her hands and moved around on the floor. Continuing to yell Evan's name and weep, HABIT grew quite annoyed with her bitching and moaning.

Out of nowhere, a gag came from out of Steph's peripheral-vision and forced itself onto her mouth. In mere seconds, the cloth had been wrapped around her mouth. This didn't stop her from yelling, but the force ignored her.

Everything was silent for a few seconds before a groaning noise was heard a few feet away. Steph instantly recognized the voice and a spark of hope came from within. She attempted to rip the gag off, but found that her arms would not move for some reason.

A table was heard falling over and something glass shattering, before groaning was heard. Steph turned her head to the side to see none other than her lover getting up while holding his head. She began to happily scream through her gagged mouth, hoping that he would get her and him out of there.

Evan wobbled around as blood fell onto the floor from his injured head, she couldn't see his face due to his head being pointed down. He didn't even seem to acknowledge her, he just grunted some more. Evan then staggered over to where she was and kneeled down, his face still shadowed.

Evan grabbed his knife that was still stuck in the ground. Steph whimpered and looked down at her stomach, it seemed untouched, but the pain was still there. Why had he not untied the gag, it was obviously a problem.

''Evan?''

He ripped the knife from the wood and stood back up. Steph was still blubbering, wondering why Evan wasn't helping her up, or showing any compassion at all. The first thing he went for was the knife in terms of assisting anything. Then, as if he could read her thoughts, the young man untied the cloth preventing her speech.

''Evan, I need help."

Evan slowly raised his head up and his face then came into view, an ominous grin present on it.

**''I KNOW.''**

Steph's face of anguish transformed into a face of fear as she recognized that voice. She was then aware that her boyfriend wasn't himself now. He was something else, something that terrified her to the very end.

''No…'' Steph began to repeat the word over and over as she attempted to back up away from the psychopath. It had no effect as her arms still had no feeling in them. Evan twirled the knife in his hand and bent over until he was face-to-face with her.

''Evan, please don't hurt me.''

**''EVAN? OH YOU'VE GOT IT ALL WRONG, BABY! HABIT'S IN THE HOUSE NOW!''**

A small chuckle came from him before he got back up and walked off to another room. Steph felt her stomach drop slowly; there was no way she was going to be saved now. That thing was now ''inHABITing'' Evan and who knows what it planned on doing to her.

Not only did that scare her, but the fact that her Evan was now a sadistic murderer caught her. It was him, but at the same time it wasn't. She didn't want to be hurt by him, even if it wasn't really him. Was he aware of what was going on?

Suddenly Steph felt feeling come back into her arms and she raised them up. If she ignored the pain, she could try to sneak away and call the police. Her stomach was extremely sore and she trembled of what damage might've possibly been done to the baby.

Steph slowly got up and resisted the urge to scream out in pain, sniffling softly. It took about thirty seconds, but she eventually picked herself up and wobbled towards the stairs, holding onto several objects as to not fall.

Her vision was blurry from crying and the constant pounding pains all over her abdomen almost forced her to topple to the ground. At the foot of the stairs, Steph knew that she couldn't go up them. But she had to do it, it was either that, or be possibly killed by HABIT, along with her child.

Steph stepped onto the first stair and pushed herself physically and emotionally to make it to the top. It hurt her on so many levels, but she was able to do it. Steph had finally made it and felt the last of her energy be drained.

The phone was right there on the kitchen counter, if she could just-

**''OH COME ON, NOT EVEN GONNA SAY HI BEFORE TRYING TO LEAVE?!'' **HABIT yelled from downstairs, obvious amusement in his voice. Steph heard him and her heart began to pound furiously, she had to reach that phone now.

She fell over to the counter, her hand grabbing the phone off the charger. Making sure to fall on her back, Steph immediately dialed ''9-1-1,'' while backing away from the stairs. The phone ringed as HABIT's shadow got closer to the top of the stairs.

''_We're sorry, the number you have dialed could not be completed at this time_.''

HABIT had made it to the kitchen, its intimidating figure there with the large knife in hand and a malicious grin on its face. It was chuckling as Steph began to panic again, dropping the phone and trying to get back up.

The force stood there and watched as she managed to get up and reach for the slide-door's handle. Actually pulling it open and trying to stumble outside, HABIT slowly walked over to her and grabbed her by the hair.

She screamed and furiously flailed her arms around as it laughed and threw her to the ground. Looking up and seeing HABIT close the door and locking it, she knew that she was never leaving. All she could do now was stay-put and beg for mercy.

HABIT was fully-entertained with the young girl's desperation and threw its knife onto the counter. It then walked over to her and held its hand out to her, seemingly gesturing that it wanted to help her up. Steph just cried miserably and shook her head.

HABIT grabbed her by the wrist and forcefully pulled her up and she proceeded to hit it in the face, resulting in another demented laugh. The grabbed her by the waist and forced one of her hands to hold one of its.

Steph struggled as HABIT slightly danced with her; it made itself and her sway towards the staircase. It then grabbed her by the waist and picked her-up, carrying her down the staircase. HABIT was carrying her down the stairs, just like Evan did sometimes when she didn't feel so good.

Eventually they made it to the final step and HABIT put her back down. It then got back into the ''tango-position'' with her jerking-around, tears streaming down her face. HABIT's grin stretched even farther on its face.

The TV turned back-on with a blip, but there was nothing present on the screen. Suddenly, white-noise began to get louder from it. HABIT looked straight into Steph's eyes; its hands gripped hers tighter. She looked into his eyes, evil, psychotic, insane, and excited.

**''LET'S ****HAVE ONE FINAL NIGHT, BABY.''** a song blasted from the TV.

_(At this point, I want you to find some sort of way to play ''Scream'' by Avenged Sevenfold and let it play while you read this.)_

Steph screamed and attempted to get away from her captor. It just laughed and began to force her to dance with it, she couldn't get away. She didn't want to share a moment with this monster, but what other choice was there.

HABIT turned around with her in its arms, following the dance technique of the tango. She would comply, but she wouldn't look it in the eyes. The small taps of their feet were drowned out by the music and HABIT's thrill-induced singing.

_''**CAUGHT UP IN THIS MADNESS TOO BLIND TO SEE, WOKE ANIMAL FEELINGS IN ME,  
TOOK OVER MY SENSE AND I LOST CONTROL, I'LL TASTE YOUR BLOOD ****TONIGHT.''**_

It pierced into Steph's very soul with that horrible stare, that fucking stare.

_**''YOU KNOW I MAKE YA WANNA SCREAM, YOU KNOW I MAKE YA WANNA RUN FROM ME BABY,**_  
_**BUT NOW IT'S TOO LATE, YOU'VE WASTED ALL YOUR TIIIIIIIIIIIME!''**_

She was now sobbing uncontrollably, it was enjoying every little moment of her fear. This was just fear, that's all it was. But she knew that this was just the beginning of it all, HABIT was taunting her, and the real horror would come later.

She was then hung-down as HABIT held her back with his hands, how could this be even remotely romantic? Why didn't it just murder her then and there, why did it have to do this? No one knows true terror until they've danced with the devil.

_**''YOU KNOW I MAKE YA WANNA SCREEEEAAAAAM, YOU KNOW I MAKE YA WANNA RUN FROM ME BABY,  
BUT NOW IT'S TOO LATE, YOU'VE WASTED ALL YOUR TIIIIIIIIME!''  
**_

Steph was then released from one of its hands and twirled with the other; it was really making her dance with it. She never really knew how to dance, nor did she care enough to learn, but if Evan ever wanted to, she'd probably do it for the sake of romanticism.

But this wasn't an exception, HABIT was mocking her. Steph cautiously looked around the room, for a means of escape, some way to break free from this dismay. It was hard to even concentrate with HABIT's chilling singing and the constant pain in her stomach and back.

_**''SCREAM TILL THERE'S SILENCE, SCREAM WHILE THERE'S LIFE LEFT, VAAAAAANISHIIIIIIIIING!''**_

There was very little to think about besides death, but her baby. Her precious little daughter, the one that would hopefully carry on Evan's family. There was also Evan's sister, but Steph didn't really remember that at the moment.

Steph couldn't do a damn thing to fight back, or get away from it. This was it, she was going to abide to his every command, her life wasn't what mattered, it was the baby's. A life with so much potential shouldn't be taken so quick.

She knew HABIT didn't care, this is what it strived-on, others' pain, all of the suffering her whole life, it savored that. And now it was going to devour her innermost confidence slowly until she finally gave-up, she would be truly broken.

_**''YOU KNOW I MAKE YA WANNA SCREAM, YOU KNOW I MAKE YA WANNA RUN FROM ME BABY,**_  
_**BUT NOW IT'S TOO LATE, YOU'VE WASTED ALL YOUR TIIIIIIIIIIIME!''**_

HABIT pushed her onto her back and pulled the knife from earlier out from behind it. She was now on her elbows, backing away from it…again. It walked over towards her and bent-down, its tongue coming out to lick the side of the blade.

It took the knife away from its mouth and put it up to Steph's fragile skin on her neck. One quick swift of the knife and she's be bleeding to death. HABIT put the knife back to its side and got up with a rub of her cheek with its hand.

_**''SCREAM TILL THERE'S SILENCE, SCREAM WHILE THERE'S LIFE LEFT, VAAAAAANISHIIIIIIIIING!''**_

HABIT began to head-bang while spinning the knife in his hand, leaving Steph to do nothing but stare.

_**''SCREAM FROM THE PLEASURE, UNMASK YOUR DESIRE, PERIIIIIISHIIIIIIING!''**_

She started screaming out-loud, begging for mercy, to be released from the impending Hell. Her pained-voice was drowned out by the TV's speakers, but HABIT could hear it just fine. That sweet, sweet scream.

It began to knock things over and sing like a madman while destroying several objects in the basement, the lights flickering on-and-off. Though the music was extremely loud, the awful vocalizing was still audible from everywhere in the house.

HABIT walked around to the back of Steph and kneeled down once more, the side of the knife in its hand whisking over her head. It sniffed her hair, that lovely smell, the smell of misery. But it was even more enjoyable for the force, because the best was yet to come.

HABIT leaned his head in to the back of her head, its warm breath assaulting her neck. Steph clenched her teeth and continued to whimper while the ordeal played-out. HABIT yanked her by the hair again, whispering into her ear,

_**''SOME LIVE REPRESSING THEIR INSTINCTIVE FEELING,**_  
_**PROTEST THE WAY WE'RE BUILT, DON'T PUT THE BLAME ON ME.''**_

Steph just screamed as it picked her back up by the arms and put her back into ''dance-position.'' This was not happening again, why the fuck was this happening again? This time the dance was more violent, though.

_**''SCREAM, SCREAM, SCREAM, THE WAY YOU WOULD IF I RAVAGED YOUR MIND!''**_

And so she did, she screamed, because there was nothing else to do. No escape, no resort, only anxiety and dread. She didn't want to feed this beast, but what would be her fate if there was no cooperation. She had to, for her baby.

Why weren't the neighbors hearing this? Surely they would've with the intense, booming music and HABIT's extremely noisy singing, one of the people next-door would be roused, or annoyed with it. Was the noise somehow isolated?

_**''SCREAM TILL THERE'S SILENCE, SCREAM WHILE THERE'S LIFE LEFT, VAAAAAANISHIIIIIIIIING!''**_

This had to be one of the most fun things it had ever done, wait….never mind.

_**''SCREAM FROM THE PLEASURE, UNMASK YOUR DESIRE, PERIIIIIISHIIIIIIING!''**_

Steph was straining her voice from the screaming, if this was awful, what would the future bring? Would this just be a little game for it, or would the force finally put an end to the game? Would she…die? No, she couldn't, not after everything that had happened.

Madness. Evan, the one who loved her and wanted to protect her ''no matter what'' was now this monster. It could do anything to do her, while using Evan. So much suffering could be done, so much bleeding.

The song came to an end and Steph wept bitterly before looking up. When she did, she saw a look in HABIT's eyes, the same look that Evan would give her during one of those fuzzy moments. It felt like Evan for just a second, her holder pressed his lips up against hers.

Was he kissing her? Wait, maybe Evan did come back and was now embracing his happiness for seeing her. HAB-Evan disconnected from the kiss and looked back into her eyes, that little twinkle present in them.

**''YOU'RE BEAUTIFUL WHEN YOU'RE SCARED.''**

That same feeling of apprehension came back when she realized that it was HABIT just fucking with her again. But what now, was it going to kill her? Steph just stood there as tears silently streamed down her face and HABIT chuckled.

The possessor pulled up the knife and began to slowly push her into the wall, now panic was present within her. Steph profusely kicked and resisted, doing nothing but making the event more fun for HABIT.

It pressed the knife up against her belly, the sharp tip so close to just slicing her open. She prayed and begged not to be slaughtered, not with her daughter still growing inside of her. HABIT pushed the knife a little further, a painful little poke.

Steph cried weakly as the force twisted the knife barely stabbing her, resulting in a hurt groan from the young girl. It used its other hand to grab her face and make her look into its eyes once more. This was it, she was going to die.

The ear-to-ear grin on HABIT's face shortened to a small smirk as it pulled the knife away, already dealing a good bit of damage to Steph. Emotionally and physically she was beat, so much excruciation in just thirty minutes.

Suddenly, a loud knock came from the front door, causing HABIT to look back. At first Steph was surged with a bit of hope, but when she saw HABIT's surprised facial expression turn into a blood-thirsty smile, she knew that there was less hope.

The force turned around to walk off, while Steph began to breathe heavily and cry harder than ever, slouching down the wall. If she could just scream then maybe the person coming over would hear her. But HABIT liked it when she screamed.

It was a few moments before a door was heard opening and the distant exchanging of words. Steph couldn't tell who it was that was let into the house, but it sounded male. Hopefully this person could save her and everything would turn out alright….hopefully.

Steph held her stomach; she was in so much pain. On the inside and outside it hurt. The wound HABIT applied wasn't fatal, or deep, but it still hurt like a bitch. On the inside though, she worried for her child's condition, it was only five-months old. How much damage could it take?

Aching all over her body and mind, she just wanted to go to sleep and forget about everything, but that feeling telling her to never give up. She would wait a few minutes before yelling for help, that way things would settle in.

In the distance, she could hear another door opening and the sound of ''Evan's'' voice grow quieter. Did he go outside? Steph took this as her chance and shouted at the top of her lungs for someone to help her. She crossed her fingers and hoped that HABIT had actually gone outside.

There was silence for a few seconds before a thumping on the stairs came down, it sounded heavy. It almost sounded like Evan's footsteps. Steph grew worried very quickly and looked around for a weapon. One of Evan's knives lay in a drawer a few feet away.

She grabbed the knife and went to go hide behind the couch, if it had caught her, she could only imagine the punishment. Suddenly, the foot-steps came to a halt, but no voice was heard. Steph strengthened the grip on the Bowie knife in her hand, readying herself to stab…him.

She couldn't hurt Evan, even if it was HABIT. He had done so much for her, loved her and provided her with a possible family. Steph decided that she would aim for his shoulder, but it still affected her that Evan had to be attacked like this.

The floorboards creaked as more footsteps became present, Steph's heart pounded against her chest. A silhouetted figure came into view; it looked nothing like Evan. Who was this? The figure looked all around the basement, noticing all the broken and knocked-over objects.

''What was that?''

It was definitely a male; this must've been the man that HABIT let into the house. She had to get up and warn him that they needed to escape. Steph struggled to get up, but made it over towards him. He turned around and jumped back.

''Get away from me!''

It was clear that the man had already been terrified from just hearing the scream, so the sight of a bloodied woman with a weapon didn't help. He was a white man that looked to be in his late thirties, nobody she instantly recognized.

''Wait, Stephanie?''

Suddenly, a familiarity emitted from the man, she knew him from somewhere. That wasn't important at the moment, though. What mattered was getting as far away from HABIT as possible. The man looked at Steph in her current state, a look of shock on his face.

''We need to get out of here right now, or he's going to kill us both.''

The man was obviously still very confused, having no idea what was happening.

''My boyfriend, well, he's not really-never mind, he's trying to kill me. We have to leave, please.''

''What?''

''Please, we have to get the fuck out of here.''

''How do I know that you're not playing some kind of joke on me?'' he gave a cautious glance.

"This isn't a fucking prank.''

''I don't know about that, I've been pranked like this before.''

Steph quickly grew angry with his questions and pulled-up her shirt, revealing the stab wound that HABIT had given her. The man didn't look that phased despite how real the injury was. The bleeding had gotten worse over the course of the last few minutes.

''That's probably just some kind of make-up.''

''This is not a mother fucking joke, please.''

Tears covered her cheeks, ones that showed pang and seriousness. It took a few moments before the man realized just how serious it was. He took a few seconds to accommodate his surprise and then looked all around the basement again.

''What do we do?''

''We have to get out of here right now.''

The man looked at the knife on the ground before reaching for it, only to be stopped by Steph. Her arm blocked the path of his; he put on another confused face. She moved his arm out of the way and took the knife herself.

''What are you doing?''

''I need to be the one to hold it, he's the father of my child.''

The man stared at her briefly and then nodded his head.

''Alright, where did he go?''

''He told me that he was gonna go outback, because he thought he heard something.''

''Let's go.''

The old man turned around only for a large ax to smash into his head, killing him instantly. The blood splattered all over Steph and the one wielding the weapon. The man fell to the floor slowly with the ax still embedded into his skull.

She looked up at the crimson-covered man in front of her, that horrible grin on its face. She snapped out of her shock and put the knife up, defending herself. HABIT crossed its arms and tilted its head, a surprised, but still amused look on its face.

It walked up to her leisurely with its arms still crossed as she backed-up.

''Get the fuck back!''

She shakily held the knife in her hand, ready to stab HABIT in the shoulder.

**''OR WHAT? WHAT'RE YA GONNA DO, STAB ME?''**

''Yeah, I'll fuckin stab you!''

**''YOU WOULDN'T KILL YOUR EVAN, WOULD YA?''**

''Just please leave me alone, don't make me do this.''

**''ACTUALLY, STEPH. I WANT YOU TO DO IT.''**

''GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM ME!''

It didn't help her already strained-throat, but she needed to find a way to keep HABIT from attacking. It just murdered that man like it was nothing, who knows what it would do to her? Steph came to a stop with her back against the wall.

**''COME ON, STEPH. STAB ME, FUCK ME UP! I'VE DONE LOTS OF HORRIBLE SHIT, I DESERVED TO BE PUNISHED.''**

She knew it was trying to mess with her mind again, that's one of the things that made HABIT a gigantic-threat, its strength in both physicality and intelligence. She just had to come up with a plan to get out of there quickly while keeping it at bay

''I'll fucking kill you!''

**''THEN DO IT! MAKE ME SUFFER, MAKE ME FEEL THE PAIN THAT I'VE INFLICTED ON OTHERS!''**

HABIT was now very close to her, she had to do something.

**''OR ARE YOU GONNA' JUST LET ME KILL YOU AND THAT PRECIOUS BABY OF YOUR'S?''**

That's all it took for her to respond, the thought of losing her baby erupted the courage within her. Steph lunged at HABIT with the knife, but it just dodged the attack and she stumbled in the direction it was in.

She looked back at it; the force wasn't going to be easy to fight. She had to just run and never look back.  
HABIT did nothing, but swayed his head to the side and motion towards the stairs. Was he telling her to escape?

It was another game of his, it had to be. Steph held the knife up once more while backing away towards the stairs, attempting to not acknowledge the pain in her body. As she ascended the steps, HABIT stood there and smiled.

**''YOU KNOW, IF YOU TWO WOULDA JUST RAN INSTEAD OF CHATTING, YOU'D BOTH BE ALIVE.''**

She didn't need his mockery right now, at the top of the stairs for hopefully the last time, Steph backed away towards the slide-door. Opening it up and staggering outside, she was so relieved to finally be free from that monster's gr-

Steph stopped dead in her tracks, that thing was there. It was just standing there with a tilted head; she only recognized it, because of the abnormal height and hairless head. Fear clouded her thoughts and she looked all around for a way to get away from it.

Two monsters, two demons, two things that wanted to end her life. There was no way that HABIT was just letting her go; it had to be some kind of trick. But it was either staying with that psychopath, or at least trying to save her and her baby's life.

Steph began to feel a bit light-headed, she felt sick in her stomach earlier, but this was a lot different. It wasn't until she got near that thing in the suit did she feel like this. It made her feel a somewhat woozy, like she could pass-out at any time. This was most likely just the afflictions from earlier taking full-effect.

The gate, she could try to hop over the gate, no matter the difficulty of it. Steph looked back at where the tall-thing was, but nothing was there. Taking this as her signal to get the fuck out of there, the young woman took off towards the gate.

Jumping and grabbing onto it wasn't too hard, seeing as how it was relatively short gate. But climbing over would possibly be the hardest part, she refused to let her already bruised and bloody stomach be hurt any further.

Jumping back down and then turning around, she got back up, getting over the gate in a backwards position. She got about three-fourths of her body up above the wooden gate when she saw the tall thing behind her on the other side.

Falling in fear, she landed head-first. Everything went black and all sounds of the night were no more, there was only black. It was painful knock-out, but the pain subsided with an almost morphine-like feel to everything.

''Steph? Steph, wake up!''

Her eyelids began to open-up, all the pain from before came rushing into her system.

''Steph, are you alright?''

That voice, so familiar.

''Steph, that fall knocked you un-conscious.''

Her eyes were now fully opened, but everything was very blurry. Some kind of broad figure stood over, shaking her.

''W-who are you?''

Everything became slightly less obscured, but the figure above her was still unidentifiable. She felt a small stinging pain in her ankles and wrists. Where the hell was she and who was this talking to her? Her thoughts weren't exactly straight either, so something's weren't as obvious to her.

**''STEPH, WAKEY-WAKEY, YOUR BONES ARE-A-BRAKEY.''**

Suddenly, a horrible pain in Steph's arm caused her to jolt-up to see what was really going on, along with an agonizing scream. Her vision was now mostly clear and she could see everything, every-fucking-thing.

Looking down she saw that her wrists and ankles were stabbed into with spiked-handcuffs that were attached to chains that were connected to the wall. It looked like something out of a SAW movie, except worse.

It didn't hurt as much as the putrid pain in her left arm, looking down she saw that it was bent at a slight weird-angle. Looking at it only made everything worse, causing a holler of absolute pain that cut-short due to her strained-throat.

**''YOU KNOW, THIS ISN'T SO FUN FOR ME EITHER. GRANTED, I DO LIKE TO SEE YOU SUFFER, I WAS GONNA BE THE ONE TO SNAP THOSE SUCKERS.''**

She didn't need to look up to see that HABIT had done it, it tricked her again. That sadistic killer had won, it always won. She just shook her head and wept while gritting her teeth in misery. She could only hope that the baby would be spared.

The room they were in was Evan's room, except something's seemed to be missing, but that was the least important thing at that moment. HABIT walked over towards Steph and looked down at her, that shit-eating grin still plastered onto its face.

**''HEY BABE, DON'T WORRY. WE'RE FAR FROM THE END, THERE'S STILL SO MUCH THAT'S GOTTA GET DONE.''**

She looked back up at him, all the physical and emotional grief sucking her up, there was much to come. So much torment, so much sorrow, and it would enjoy every little bit of it. And the worse part seemed to be that there was no reason for any of it.

**''ALSO, I HAD TO FUCKIN TO CLEAN UP THAT MESS IN THE BASEMENT CAUSE OF YOU. WHO KNEW MR. GREEN HAD SO MUCH IN EM.''**

For the time being, HABIT's words were not having any kind of effect on her, she still heard him, but it didn't matter. Not being able to scream from the pain, because of a tensed-up throat forced her to just release tears.

Steph had never been in so much agony before, at least physically. There was no doubt in the past, the events that affected her current life were quite damaging in an emotional sense. But this had to be taking all of that misery and just bundling it up into one bloody night.

Her now broken-arm, her pierced appendages…and her abused belly, that child. It was one thing when you got yourself into a horrendous mishap, because of your stupidity. But to not even be given a chance at life and then be slaughtered. Evil knows no bounds.

Now it really just depended on resisting the urge to accept the pain into her system. If she let it course through her, let it consume her inside, she would be fully helpless. But that wasn't saying much at that moment.

Suddenly she was brought her attention back to HABIT, that name he said. The man did feel familiar, like she had seen him somewhere before. It felt like someone she should recognize and easily remember just from seeing.

''_Mr. Green…_'' Steph thought.

''Mr.…Green, that was the man that lived next door…''

**''NOW YOU REMEMBER, I WAS WONDERING WHEN YOU'D GET THAT. I MEAN SERIOUSLY, YOU'VE BEEN LIVING NEXT TO THE GUY AND HIS FAMILY FOR LIKE FIVE MONTHS.''**

''He…had a family?''

**''YUP, WELL, NOT ANYMORE.''**

Steph looked up at HABIT with more disgust and sadness; she was almost fully distracted from the physical pain assaulting her, but that didn't keep her from expressing her revulsion. It shouldn't have been a surprise, but one could only take so much in a certain amount of time.

**''I'M JUST YANKIN YOUR CHAIN, THOSE FUCKERS ARE ALRIGHT…FOR NOW.''**

There was no more surprise, HABIT was a sick-bastard, she didn't want to see any more people be hurt, because of the force but there was nothing she could do. And like it said, this was only just the beginning, the amount of bloodshed and carnage coming would be the most horrible.

She held her stomach in her only non-broken arm and just cried, that was the only thing she could do. They say to keep fighting until the end, but sometimes when you fight back, it does nothing but hurt you and the ones you love.

HABIT still stood there and smiled at her misery.

**''HEY, I CAN SEE THAT YOU WANNA BE ALONE RIGHT NOW, SO I'M GONNA GO DO SOME SHIT AND LEAVE YA BE.''**

It headed towards the door before stopping.

**''ALSO, WE'RE GONNA HAVE A GUEST LATER, SOMEONE YOU'LL RECOGNIZE.''**

With that, the force left the room, closing the door behind it. Steph didn't know what to think anymore, there was no more hope. She just had to except fate, the horrible fate put upon some people. Who knew, maybe hope would come sooner or later, just not too late.


End file.
